Chicago (Broadway Touring musical) at The Kauffman Center, Kansas City MO (2025-01-07 through 01-12)
Jan 21 – Jan 21 Duluth, MN DECC Symphony Hall
Jan 23 – Jan 26 Toledo, OH Stranahan Theatre
Jan 28 – Feb 2 Nashville, TN Tennessee Perf. Arts Center
Feb 4 – Feb 9 Dayton, OH Benjamin & Marian Schuster PAC
Feb 11 – Feb 16 Knoxville, TN Tennessee Theatre
Feb 18 – Feb 19 College Station, TX Rudder Theatre Complex
Feb 20 – Feb 20 Orange, TX Lutcher Theater
Feb 22 – Feb 23 Stillwater, OK The McKnight Center
Feb 25 – Feb 25 Great Falls, MT Mansfield Center
Feb 26 – Feb 26 Bozeman, MT Brick Breeden Fieldhouse
Feb 28 – Mar 2 Eugene, OR Hult Center
Mar 4 – Mar 9 San Francisco, CA Golden Gate Theatre
Mar 11 – Mar 12 Logan, UT Cache Valley For the Arts
Mar 14 – Mar 16 Cerritos, CA Cerritos Center
Mar 17 – Mar 17 Bakersfield, CA Mechanics Bank Arena
Mar 18 – Mar 19 Riverside, CA Fox Performing Arts Center
Mar 21 – Mar 23 El Paso, TX Plaza Theatre
Mar 24 – Mar 24 Midland, TX Wagner Noël PAC
Mar 27 – Mar 29 Sioux Falls, SD Washington Pavilion
Mar 30 – Mar 30 Grand Forks, MT Chester Fritz PAC
Apr 3 – Apr 3 West Lafayette, IN Elliot Hall of Music
Apr 4 – Apr 6 South Bend, IN Morris Auditorium
Apr 8 – Apr 13 East Lansing, MI Wharton Center
Apr 22 – Apr 22 Hamilton, ON FirstOntario Concert Hall
Apr 23 – Apr 23 London, ON Budweiser Gardens
Apr 25 – Apr 27 Moncton, New Brunswick Avenir Centre
May 2 – May 4 Providence, RI Providence PAC
May 5 – May 6 Binghamton, NY Broome County Forum
May 8 – May 8 Charleston, WV Clay Center
May 9 – May 11 Richmond, VA Altria Theater
May 13 – May 13 Columbus, GA RiverCenter
May 14 – May 14 Evans, GA Columbia County PAC
May 16 – May 18 Lubbock, TX Buddy Holly Hall
May 21 – May 25 Monterrey, MX ShowCenter Complex
May 29 – May 29 Shippensburg, PA Luhrs Theatre
May 30 – Jun 1 Tysons, VA Capital One Hall
Jun 2 – Jun 2 Roanoke, VA Berglund Center
Jun 3 – Jun 8 Baltimore, MD Hippodrome Theatre
Jun 10 – Jun 15 New Orleans, LA Saenger Theatre
Jun 17 – Jun 22 Miami, FL Adrienne Arsht Center
Set a century ago, in Prohibition-era Windy City (aka the city of big shoulders), it’s a satirical story that invokes questions around the power of publicity (good or bad), sensationalistic grandstanding despite the committing of a serious crime, and attempting to be above the law while undermining the judicial system (waitaminute?!- are we still talking about Chicago in the late 1920’s?).
It must mean the classic musical Chicago is back in town – “A story of greed, corruption, violence, exploitation, adultery and treachery” (to quote the opening prologue) …and Kansas City couldn’t be happier!
It’s playing through the weekend at the Kauffman Center as part of the current PNC Broadway in Kansas City series (via The American Theatre Guild), and we braved the aftermath of the snow blizzard, to take in opening night.
Based on a 1926 play, the production hit the live stage starting in 1975, and with its 1996 revival, has become the longest-running musical in Broadway history. It began with dancer Gwen Verdon first suggesting to her husband, choreographer and director Bob Fosse, that the play might be a good source to become a musical. Fosse was riding high from the success of Cabaret a few years prior, and that work and this one, has become the timeless personification of his very distinct contribution to American theater.
Many who don’t follow the theater, are still familiar with the work, thanks to the 2002 six-time Oscar-winning film that starred Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere.
The two leading ladies, Roxie Hart (played by Ellie Roddy) and Velma Kelly (played by Taylor Lane) are very competing women both accused of murder, each vying for attention and the spotlight, as they hope to be acquitted (in both the court, and court of public opinion) with the help of cocky, smooth talking lawyer, Billy Flynn (played by Connor Sullivan, who proved without a doubt during a solo song, he can hold a very long note).
Minimally staged, the emphasis of the show thus leans on the choreography, the lighting, and the songs, which also means very few costume changes (most of the ensemble is in frilly black garments throughout), a ‘non-set’ (the ten-piece band with conductor positioned on a multi-level grandstand dominates the stage) and a storyline just enough to move the narrative forward, without getting too emotionally invested.
That said, those core parts here are strong enough, and the underlying themes equating to our current world of ‘social likes’, ‘fake news’, and ‘alternative facts’ remain in the back of our mind as the tale unfolds. The ensemble members stay openly seated on both sides of the stage, reacting from their chairs and awaiting their next cue to spring into action.
The original music by John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb, and book by Fosse and Ebb have all become a part of modern theater’s cultural zeitgeist and still have audiences clapping and nodding along with the more familiar numbers.
The production wastes no time and begins with the always impressive “All That Jazz” (set in the cleanest Cook County Jail you’ll ever see) with the company deftly and fluidly moving about, as they only can, as part of this trademark Fosse production (nicely updated by Ann Reinking for the 1996 revival with additional new re-creation by Gregory Butler and David Hyslop).
Illy Kirven rightfully commands the stage halfway through the first act as sassy Matron “Mama” Morton and Brad Weatherford’s supporting Fred Casely character starts with some one-handed push-ups at stage right, then follows with a vertical maneuver that requires near Olympic-level focus.
Andrew Metzger’s naive, sad sack husband to Roxie, Amos Hart, gets a compelling turn on his “Mr. Cellophane” solo in the second act, and the operatic falsetto of D. Fillinger’s character, the gossip reporter Mary Sunshine was enhanced and carried upward, by the fine acoustics of the intimate theater. And Sullivan’s Billy Flynn, who we don’t meet until halfway into the first act, is the right amount of over-confidence and slick assuredness (in addition to his previously mentioned vocal skills), to deliver a raucous “Razzle Dazzle” at the story’s apex.
As the show concludes, the two protagonist murderesses realize their own individual returns to vaudeville success would multiply exponentially if they joined forces. So, they do so, despite a continued mutual resentment, in a show-stopping feverishly frantic end number, performed in matching glittered suits that constantly catch the light.
Chicago rides off into the sunset triumphantly, but our own two rival political parties haven’t fully learned the lesson of combining forces for the greater good. We still have a few lessons to learn from these former jailbirds.
Chicago plays in Kansas City at The Kauffman Center through Sunday, January 12 with tickets available here: Chicago | Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts
(National Tour Photos by Jeremy Daniel / Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)
